“Such is this letter, and it is signed, ‘Joos Damman, esquire’.”
And the people shouted:
“To the death with the murderer! To the death with the sorcerer! To the fire the turner of women’s wits! To the gallows with the robber!”
The bailiff said then:
“People, keep silence, that in all freedom we may judge this man.”
“I will,” said he, “read to you the second letter, found by Nele in the pocket of Katheline’s festal jacket; it is conceived as follows:
“Darling Witch, here is the recipe of a compound sent me by the very wife of Lucifer: by the help of this compound thou wilt be able to transport thyself to the sun, the moon, and the stars, converse with the elemental spirits that carry the prayers of men unto God, and to traverse all the towns and burgs and rivers and fields of the whole universe. Thou art to bruise together in equal quantities: stramonium, sleep-solanum, henbane, opium, the fresh tips of hemp, belladonna, and datura.
“If thou wilt, we shall go this night to the sabbath of the spirits: but thou must love me better and not be miserly again like the other night, when thou didst refuse me ten florins, saying thou didst not have them. I know that thou dost hide a treasure and wilt not tell me of it. Dost thou love me no longer, my sweetheart?”
“Thy cold devil,